I left the Garret Academy changing rooms with Alyssa next to me, both of us freshly showered after our victorious match. Alyssa sent a mocking wave to the gag of girls we'd competed with who were watching us distastefully.

"Better luck next time, yeah?" I told them, giggling when one of them flipped me off and walked away.

"Talk about sportsmanship, huh?" Alyssa mumbled to me, amused and I smiled in agreement.

"They couldn't be good sportsman if they tried," I told her. "They're probably just pissed bribing the referee didn't work." Alyssa laughed at that.

"Guess they'll have to double the price next time, or better yet, hire a referee." She laughed and I joined her. We weren't stupid, we wouldn't be talking that boldly if Garret students were still present. I was way too pretty to fight.

But with the time being 4:03pm, the hallway was empty except for a few younger students who didn't intimidate me enough for me to keep my mouth shut.

"We still on to get our nails done?" I asked as we walked out of the schools entrance. Alyssa turned to me with a sheepish smile as we approached her car.

"Sorry, I forgot to tell you that I'm meeting Wyatt's parents today." She said. I raised an eyebrow.

"So? They can wait." I replied and she shoved me playfully.

"No, I need to go home and make myself look presentable, Taylor." She gave me a look. "I have to make a good first impression so they'll like me."

"We both know you won't care if they both like you."

"True," She agreed. "But I can't have them whispering nonsense about getting a prenup when we get married. Imagine." Alyssa scoffed and I giggled.

"Wait, but you're my ride!" I exclaimed when we reached her car. My car was at the mechanics, sadly.

Alyssa gave me an apologetic smile. "Sorry Tay, Wyatt's picking me up in like an hour, which gives me barely any time to get ready. Just ask someone else for a ride to the mall." She suggested and I glared at her.

"The mall is like ten minutes from your house-"

"Bye, love you!" With that Alyssa drove off. I huffed, annoyed at the abrupt change of plans. Then an idea popped up in my head and I opened my contacts on my phone. I texted Brock, and after some convincing he agreed to pick me up in ten minutes.

I immediately brought out my large mirror, inspecting myself. My hair was in a messy ponytail and face bare, not that it made a difference, I was still gorgeous. I was wearing a plain white baggy t-shirt with grey cycling shorts and my black leather jacket on top, as my volleyball uniform was sweaty. I hurriedly unpacked my hair and brushed through it, tying it into a much neater ponytail. Then I applied my clear lip-gloss and brought out my perfume, spraying myself just in time for Brock's car to pull up in the parking lot.

He unnecessarily honked and I shot him a glare, but picked up my duffel bag and headed towards him. I entered the passenger seat, keeping my bag at my feet and buckling up. Once I was done I turned to Brock with a sweet smile to see he was already watching me intensely.

"Hey," I greeted. I put my hand on his shoulder. "I really appreciate you picking me up." Brock looked at the hand on shoulder in slight bewilderment, then nodded and started driving. I smirked to myself, removing my hand.

"So, how was the match?" Brock asked after a few moments of silence.

"Garret was quite tough at first, but we pulled through at the end." I replied, bringing out my phone to send a quick text to Alyssa. Brock nodded.

"That's good to hear. How did they take it?" He asked with a small smirk. I giggled slightly.

"Like champs," I said sarcastically and Brock chuckled. Garret Academy were known for being sore losers.

"Where am I dropping you off again?" He asked. I looked up from my phone.

"The mall, if you don't mind. I'm getting my nails done." I informed him.

"Alone?"

I sighed. "Nope, I was meant to go with Lyssa but she bailed on me."

Brock shrugged. "Don't blame her. You're quite intolerable sometimes." Then he laughed at his unfunny joke. I narrowed my eyes.

"I didn't seem intolerable when you were going to kiss me in the supply room." I replied lightly, and then turned on the radio before he could respond.

I chanced a glance at him a minute later after silence and saw he had an embarrassed and shy look on his face, causing me to grin. I felt so powerful.

After another minute of tense silence I decided to break it by making random conversation. We ended up talking the whole fifteen minute ride, and soon we arrived at the mall parking lot. I was expecting him to leave the car running so I could just hop out, but to my delight he carefully parked the car and turned it off.

I turned to look at Brock at the same time he looked at me. "Since I drove you here, you can pay for parking." He informed me and I shrugged, not disagreeing.

"Wait, why are you parking? Are you coming with me?" I asked, confused. Brock shrugged.

"I got nothing better to do, so why not. Plus I know you wanted to me come, cos why else would you ask me for a ride?" He replied and I smirked slightly, undoing my seatbelt and opening the door.

"Maybe because I'd like to spend time with you." I replied in an innocent tone, getting out of the car. Brock left it as well shortly after, and I picked up my bag, removing my purse which had my essentials in it. I glanced up at Brock who was waiting impatiently and made a gesture for us to start walking to pay for parking.

Once we reached there I fished out a few coins I had in my purse and looked up to see Brock already paying. I stared at him, frustrated but he paid me no mind. I waited until he was done to ask: "I thought I was going to pay for parking?"

Brock glanced at me, looking slightly offended. "It was a joke, darling. What kind of man would I be if I let you pay for parking-?"

I cut him off by fake gagging. "Miss me with that whole toxic masculinity narrative, Brock." He screwed up his face.

"What are you on about?"

"Oh look at me, I'm a big manly man who has to pay for everything because it's a man's job." I replied in a deep voice, mocking him. Brock rolled his eyes and shoved me slightly.

"That's not what I meant, Taylor."

"Whatever." I shrugged. I wasn't too bothered, I was just over being smothered by toxic masculinity, I'd had enough of that at home and with my exes.

"Anyway," I clapped my hands once as we strolled through the busy shopping centre. "I need to just go to the nail salon and pick up something for Melissa." I told him. Brock glanced down at me.

"Melissa? I swear you guys hate each other." He replied. I giggled, shaking my head.

"She hates me. I couldn't care less about that, though." I corrected. "Our mums want us to get along so I'm buying her a little gift so they can get off my back. I'm thinking of a hairbrush, because did you see her hair today? Yikes."

Brock simply chuckled, shaking his head. Soon enough we made it to the nail shop and we sat down, waiting for someone to be free. I brought out my phone and opened the photos app to show Brock my options.

"What do you think, which colour?" I asked, scrolling between the three pictures.

Brock starched his heads unsurely. "Um, they all look the same to me." I gave him an incredulous look.

"No, one is hot pink, one is baby pink and the other is clearly watermelon pink, Brock." I told him.

"Exactly, the same."

I shook my head. "Just pick one, that client is nearly done." Brock looked between the options, before choosing the watermelon pink nail. I smiled, satisfied with his answer before standing up.

"Text me when you're done, I want to look around a bit." Brock told me, standing up as well. I pouted slightly.

"But we can go together when I'm done." I practically whined.

"I'd rather not spend half an hour waiting here, Taylor. I'm not leaving the shopping centre." Brock reminded me. I nodded, bidding him goodbye and went to sit down with the nail tech.

A little over half an hour I was finished and extremely happy with the results. After paying I gathered my things and went outside to text Brock. I grinned at the sound my nails made as they tapped on the screen.

Brock answered that he was a couple minutes away from the salon, so I decided to sit on the nearest bench. I freed my hair of the ponytail, shaking it out and running my hands through my hair. I brought out my lip gloss to apply it when I made eye contact with a guy who looked my age standing a couple metres away with who I assumed was his friend. He was fairly cute and staring at me with unconcealed interest.

Maybe a week or so ago I would have shot him a flirty smile and returned the interest, but now I only had eyes for one person. So I broke the eye contact and looked away with a blank face, applying my lip gloss.

I zoned out for a moment but was brought back when I heard a voice near me. "Hey."

I looked up to see the stranger and stared at him blankly. Up close he was much better looking with olive skin, brown eyes and black hair with a toned physique.

"Yes?" I questioned. He raised an eyebrow slightly, his lips twitching into a smile.

"Is that seat taken?" He asked, nodding to the small space next to me on the bench. I opened my mouth to reply it was when someone beat me to it.

"Yeah, it is man." A familiar deep voice replied for me, and Brock emerged next to me. I looked up at him, surprised to see him glaring at the stranger. The guy nodded, raising his hands in surrender before walking away, looking back to shoot me a smile that I didn't return.

"Who's that?" Brock asked when he was far enough, looking down at me with an impassive expression. I shrugged, standing up and holding my purse.

"No clue." I replied, and we started walking. Imagine my surprise when Brock snaked his arm around my waist and pulled me close to him. I looked up at him to see him glaring in another direction, his jaw locked in annoyance. I followed his gaze to see the stranger talking with his companion.

I giggled, placing my hand on his. "Chill out, hermoso." At the nickname Brock relaxed, the tension leaving him and he smiled down at me. I couldn't help but be thrilled at the blatant jealousy he just displayed, it was a clear sign he was interested in me which soothed my insecurities.

As we walked I felt my phone vibrate in my back pocket and brought it out to see a message from Alyssa.

I smirked, pocketing my phone. She would definitely badger me later.

"Do you want to get food?" Brock randomly asked and I nodded.

"Yeah, but I need to get a hairbrush for my bitter cousin first."

Brock made a face. "Do you think a hairbrush is the best present to get her?"

I smiled. "It's either that or a book about how to develop a fashion sense, because she cannot dress." I whistled and Brock laughed, shaking his head and directing me to a shop.

*****

"Thanks for the ride, and keeping me company today. I really enjoyed it." I told Brock as we stopped outside my house. He offered a bashful smile.

"No worries, I did as well." He replied and I smiled widely.

"Cool. See you at school tomorrow." I said, and feeling bold I leaned forward to kiss him on the cheek. I grinned at his shocked face before hopping out of the car and practically skipping towards my house.

I opened the door and locked it behind me, then dramatically leaned against it. "Creo que estoy enamorado!" I sang out to my empty house with a big smile on my face.

I was obviously joking; I was nowhere near being in love with Brock. But my miniature crush on him had turned into a massive one.

I liked him for various reasons. One, his devastating good looks. With his dark brown skin, glossy black waves, warm brown eyes, white smile, sharp jaw line and a muscular physique he had plenty girls drooling over him, including me. But apart from his looks, it was his personality that attracted me.

Brock was the most caring guy I knew. It was evident in the way he'd always look out for others or place their feelings before his. He would think carefully before he spoke.

He was also super positive. I could count on one hand how many times I'd seen him frown, and God knew I needed an optimistic person in my life to cancel out my negativity. Brock was so sweet as well, usually guys would be afraid of expressing their emotions in the fear of not being seen as masculine but Brock didn't mind appearing shy or bashful around me, which made him 100x more attractive. But most importantly he made me want to be a better person. I'd watch what I'd say around him or change my mind set to a better one when he was near. I'd be less snarky and rude when he was around and more mindful of others feelings. Today had been the nicest I'd acted in a while, and him thinking my little sly comments were rude said a lot about what I usually said.

My exes couldn't handle my attitude, but he could. I respected him and liked him enough to listen when he told me to stop, and I never listened when told to stop.

In conclusion, he was the only guy I could see myself really falling for and being with. Which meant in order to have him, I'd need to eliminate any factors that could prevent that happening.

Such as Chloe Woods.

*****